Section 137: Learning

The heaps of miscellaneous junk piled as high as mountains posed little difficulty for Ye Chong. After all, for someone who had grown up on a garbage planet, handling such things was practically second nature.

Even Shang could not help being slightly astonished by Ye Chong’s efficiency. “Yezi, I never knew you had this kind of talent! Looks like that even if we get out someday, you could work as a housekeeper and earn enough for your living expenses and our energy costs! Hmm, being a housekeeper really is a highly technical profession!”

Ye Chong ignored Shang and swept his gaze around the room. The disorderly chamber was now clean and refreshing. He had thrown out everything he deemed useless, and clothes made up the overwhelming majority of it. Ye Chong simply could not understand how anyone could be willing to change clothes so often. Wasn’t it a nuisance?

Without the slightest hesitation, Ye Chong threw away all the dirty clothes.

Seeing the room neat and orderly, with everything sorted and put away in its proper place, Ye Chong felt quite satisfied. The floor, however, had been filthy, and while cleaning it, he had accidentally “washed” several tiles into fragments.

Mad Guan spent every day drinking and paid no attention to Ye Chong.

Ye Chong was in no hurry. He had far too many things to occupy his time. Meditation alone took up a considerable portion of each day. His talent for mental training was even worse than that of an ordinary person, but after his unrelenting efforts, he had finally made a breakthrough a few days earlier. He could clearly sense a faint, almost imperceptible fluctuation.

The discovery filled Ye Chong with delight. After witnessing the unique fighting methods of the mech pilots from the Institute, he had always believed that mental training was their true foundation.

His thinking was not wrong—but the truth was far more complicated than he imagined. These people had been selected from childhood. They needed extraordinary talent for mental training, as well as exceptional physical conditioning. They were then placed in groups of ten, living, training, and fighting together from a young age, cultivating a tacit understanding among themselves. They were true combat elites.

Ye Chong did not dare hope that this would bring much help to his own fighting ability. If it could provide even the slightest assistance when his strange illness flared up, he would thank the heavens.

Besides meditation, Ye Chong still had plenty of other things to do. For example, he needed to familiarize himself with Guardian. During these days, he had never relaxed his efforts to master it. He understood that only through constant adjustment between a mech pilot and his light armor could the strength of both be brought fully into play. Guardian was like an inexhaustible treasure, always capable of giving Ye Chong unexpected surprises.

Number Two’s daggers bore an utterly terrible name, yet represented a pair of blades far beyond the standards of the present age. Ye Chong had discussed them with Mu many times, but they still could not determine the principle behind their manufacture. This had led Ye Chong to marvel repeatedly at Gu Shaoze’s genius.

The daggers were even sharper than the Blue Light Spear, which contained Duokun stone. Their only flaw was that they were far too small for a mech. Unless they struck a vital point, they would have virtually no effect on an opponent. Apart from that, Ye Chong also had to work hard to adapt to Guardian’s distinctive black-and-white field of vision.

Ye Chong had also obtained a large quantity of bone material from the old master. He practiced with it every day, lest his skill deteriorate.

His schedule was now packed from morning to night. Ye Chong even wondered whether he still had time to study cultivation. Thus, when Mad Guan failed to appear each day, he was not anxious. He truly had no time left to think about it.

All at once, life seemed to have become full and purposeful.

There was one more thing for which Ye Chong was deeply grateful: Shang’s exasperating period had ended, and it was Mu’s turn to emerge. Ye Chong’s world had finally become peaceful again.

Over the past few days, Ye Chong had suffered constant torment at Shang’s hands. Ever since Shang had first seen Mad Guan, it had behaved as though it had taken an aphrodisiac. According to Shang, it was a drug containing a powerful stimulant that prompted the human body to release a large quantity of a certain hormone within a very short time.

Ye Chong had been left utterly bewildered. He wondered when Shang had begun studying pharmacology.

What truly left the deepest impression on him, however, was Shang’s behavior after taking the drug. Every day, Shang chattered incessantly about Mad Guan, praising her in long, elaborate speeches without ever repeating the same wording, while desperately urging Ye Chong to draw closer to her.

Even with Ye Chong’s firm willpower, he had nearly surrendered under such inhuman torment.

It was simply terrifying. If everyone who took that drug behaved like Shang, then the drug itself was truly horrifying.

Fortunately, Shang possessed an extraordinarily precise sense of time. Though deeply reluctant, it still yielded its position on schedule. Mu’s arrival allowed Ye Chong to let out a long sigh of relief.

The moment Shang left, Mad Guan arrived.

She held the stem of a wineglass delicately between the fingers of her right hand and leaned half against the door. Her cheeks were flushed from drink. Ye Chong stopped what he was doing and looked at her calmly.

Mad Guan’s speech was somewhat slurred. “Little Yezi, you’ve got remarkable patience. You can really keep your cool. No wonder your master has such high hopes for you. Hmm… Big Sister will grant your wish…”

She shook her dizzy head and simply slid down beside the door until she was sitting on the floor.

Seeing the doubtful look in Ye Chong’s eyes, Mad Guan glared at him. “Little Yezi… don’t tell me you think Big Sister is drunk… Er, I’m telling you, I’m not drunk… Today, I’m going to give you a proper lesson.”

She paused, then fell silent in thought for a while. A rare seriousness appeared on her slightly tipsy face, and her speech gradually became clear.

“When cultivation science first began, its practitioners were botanists. They studied plants and discovered many of their characteristics. It was a fascinating field of knowledge. However, plants have extremely long growth cycles, which created countless difficulties for their research. So these botanists began trying every possible method to shorten the growth cycles of plants. That was how cultivation science first came into being. Even today, plants remain the field in which cultivation is most widely applied.”

Ye Chong listened with rapt attention. He failed to notice that the drunken flush had completely vanished from Mad Guan’s face. Her clear eyes now shimmered with wisdom, while her slightly pale, jade-like features revealed a breathtaking beauty.

“Later, people discovered that plants were not the only living things whose growth cycles could be shortened through cultivation. As research deepened, they gradually uncovered other functions, such as developing entirely new species. Cultivation science then began expanding toward diversification and professionalization. From that point onward, cultivation specialists truly entered the public eye.”

There was a faint note of pride in Mad Guan’s voice. Ye Chong found this rather surprising. It was difficult to imagine that Mad Guan could possess such an emotion. Perhaps her past had not been simple either.

But Ye Chong soon laughed inwardly. Anyone capable of entering the Orbital Sphere—whose past could possibly have been simple?

“Cultivation specialists also have many fields and branches. After all, everyone’s energy is limited, and no one can cover every area. Apart from differences in their specialized fields, there are many other divisions among cultivation specialists that outsiders know nothing about. Since you can be considered my student, you ought to know these things.

“The relevant materials are stored in the photonic computer in Room Five. The access code is 37254. If you’re interested, go read them yourself. As a profession with a long history, cultivation has its own hidden rules and unwritten customs. You must remember them all. Otherwise, if you offend someone’s taboo…”

Mad Guan let out a cold laugh.

Ye Chong nodded to show that he understood.

“As a beginner, you must start with plants. That is the most mature field of research.”

Mad Guan searched herself for a while but found nothing. She stopped, tilted her head, and thought hard. At last, she pulled a fingernail-sized chip from her chest and casually tossed it toward Ye Chong.

She had used too little force, and the chip was too light. It was about to fall to the floor when Ye Chong pushed off with the tip of his foot, his body drifting forward, and snatched it out of the air before it landed.

A strange glint flashed through Mad Guan’s eyes as she looked him up and down. “Oh, Little Yezi, not bad! Who would have thought that with such a scrawny body, you’d still have a little ability? Mm-hmm, this way, I’ll feel at ease when you go out alone in the future. Hee-hee, Little Yezi, come keep me company sometime. Big Sister can test your stamina and see how good it is!”

She covered her mouth and giggled, her expression full of suggestive implications.

“My stamina?” Ye Chong shook his head and answered seriously, “It’s excellent. There’s no need to test it.”

Mad Guan could no longer hold herself back. Sitting on the floor, she burst into loud laughter, her silvery voice echoing through the entire room.

Ye Chong was completely baffled, though he at least understood that this was not the right moment to ask.

He asked Mu inwardly, “Is my stamina poor?”

Mu pondered for a moment. “Perhaps the other party is stronger in that regard, though the probability is less than one percent.”

It took Mad Guan quite some time to recover. She patted her chest and gasped for breath. A full three minutes passed before she finally calmed down.

“Mm, this chip contains an illustrated guide to common plants. Most schools do not require students to memorize the contents, but you are my student. You cannot be that incompetent. You must memorize every one of these. I’ll test you in a few days. If you get any wrong, hee-hee, you’ll naturally be punished. I guarantee you’ll remember it for the rest of your life.”

She continued, “That is only a secondary assignment. Your task over the next few days is to collect actual specimens. Use the plant guide in the chip to gather samples. The plant scanner is in the third row of Room Two, fifth from the left. It comes with detailed instructions. It’s such a simple device—you’ll understand it after reading them once. Don’t come looking for me again. That’s all. Five days from now, I want to see physical specimens of every plant listed in the guide. All right, all right, that’s enough.”

Mad Guan waved her hand, suddenly impatient.

Then, without paying Ye Chong any further attention, she leaned against the door and began snoring loudly.